TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
GOOD EVENING TXK COLUMN BY BAILEY GRAVITT Education is Power
M y queen, Oprah Winfrey, taught me how important getting an education is. My mom passed a plethora of Oprah quotes to me while growing up, one of the most important being, “Education is power.” These words of wisdom were only a tiny part of a more extensive lecture in my early high school years. After expressing my thoughts about possibly not going to college to my mom, she reminded me, “Education is power.” It hit me like a ton of bricks, and I have never forgotten that quote. I thought Oprah and I were finally on the same page as I walked up the steps to my first college class in the fall of 2016. But after I graduated from Texarkana College with my associate degree in the spring of 2019, I decided not to return to school. Yes, I suppose I let Oprah down. Fast-forward three ridiculously fast years later, and here we are. I have decided to take my first
steps toward redemption and further my education, one outrageously expensive textbook at a time. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) form was not as bad as everyone made me believe it would be, and that was an enormous weight off my shoulders. Everyone at Texas A&M University-Texarkana has been kind, helpful, and accommodating. Overall, it has been a relatively smooth process. I have so many dreams and goals set for myself. I quit school in 2019, believing that nothing in a textbook or an online course could help me achieve those goals. My dreams have gotten bigger, however. I work at Heritage Home Health & Hospice as their digital media manager. Who would have thought I would be in front of a computer screen all day? But I am creating, and creating, and hoping to make Heritage’s social media presence one of the best. I
am passionate about what I do, but I have ADHD, and I know getting my degree can only expand the possibilities of what I can accomplish. I used to think being a dreamer was much more a curse than a blessing. In first grade, I remember journal time. Instead of writing about my summer, I would draw cotton candy monsters all over the page. The monsters were pink and blue with creepy faces, and I wished SO badly they were real. I know I was not following the assignment’s instructions, but tapping into that creativity was therapeutic for me. I used to believe my imagination was repugnant; I was afraid of it and wanted to hide it because everyone around me was intelligent and articulate about the world around them. I always seemed to be looking past the here and now. In some ways, I am still that little first grader drawing cotton candy monsters all
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